How do you create a prize-winning kitchen design?

Including two dishwashers did the trick for Elizabeth Rishel, owner of Orion Design in Shawnee, who won the $10,000 grand prize in the 2014 GE Appliances Monogram Kitchen Display Competition.

The contest required only one dishwasher in each design incorporating GE brand appliances, so offering two was “something that intrigued the judges,” Rishel said. It’s also a feature that Rishel has included in kitchen designs for some clients who like to entertain.

“I thought, how great to get your meal ready, and get everything thrown in the dishwasher and be ready for when people arrive,” she said. “And then have a secondary dishwasher for dishes when people are done (eating), to be able to stash those away quickly and to keep your space clean. Especially with these open floor plans. You’re entertaining right in your kitchen, so you don’t want a lot of dirty dishes around.”

Other distinctive features of Rishel’s kitchen designs have included a “brew center” for a client who brewed beer at home, a lower-level baking oven for a client who wanted greater ease of use for making cookies as a side business and a steam oven for clients interested in “cooking healthy.”

“My goal is to show off the appliances as best as possible,” she said. “In so many kitchens these days, the appliances tend to be a big focal point.”

Rishel, 33, has been in business for herself for five years. Although her residential interior designs focus on kitchens and master bathrooms, “in this part of the country, we get a ton of finished basements, which involve space planning,” she said.

“The best part of my job is the clients,” she said. “Every project is unique, and clients bring their own wants, needs and desires to a project.

“Kitchen, bathroom or whatever, we are making spaces personal. It used to be that everybody was doing this or everybody was doing that. Anymore it’s: ‘This is me. This is what I want. This is a reflection of me.’ It’s about making spaces unique.”

Rishel’s GE prize included a trip to Louisville, Ky., and admission to the Kentucky Derby, where she bet on a losing horse, “so it was back to work,” she said. What plans does she have for the $10,000 from GE?

“We’ve got some projects around our own home that we’d like to tackle,” she said. “It’s probably going to be new windows or something boring. But we’re oddly excited about it.”